


Rebirth

by Perforabuntsaggittis



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Angst, Death, F/M, Jason Todd x sibling!reader, Lazarus Pit, Resurrection, This probably isn’t medically accurate, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 10:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13568733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perforabuntsaggittis/pseuds/Perforabuntsaggittis
Summary: Jason, your older brother, is upset because he found out that you’re dating his new adopted brother.





	Rebirth

Jason stomped through his current safe house, looking for any signs of his little sister. Alas, he found you lounging in a chair at the table, feet propped up and coffee in hand.

“What are you _thinking_?” He growled. You quirked a brow up at him, playing dumb. You knew exactly what he was talking about.

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific, Jay.” He crossed his arms and set his shoulders, grinding his teeth together.

“Y/n.” You sighed and stood up, placing your coffee on the edge of the table. You were a bit shorter than your brother, but you looked him right in the eyes, attempting to seem unabashed.

“He’s not a bad person, Jason. Out of everyone, you should know that,” you said, tilting your head and hitting him with your best puppy-dog eyes. It wasn’t working. You knew your brother was as stubborn as they come, and right now he was being about as yielding as a brick wall. You sighed, fingertips beginning to fiddle with the edge of your sleeves. “Look, I don’t see the problem. He has a questionable past, sure. But don’t you and I?”

His eyes softened a bit, and you could tell he was remembering all those restless nights spent on the street. He sighed, running his fingers through his unruly black hair.

“Yeah, but the things we did were out of necessity. Who knows how many people he’s killed? And for what?” He asked, crossing his arms again. Your nostrils flared, anger coursing through your veins. How _dare_ he.

“He killed because he’s been manipulated ever since he was born by his very own family! And what right do _you_ have calling other people out on murder? Last time I checked, you don’t exactly have a clean slate, either,” you snarled, steam practically seeping from your ears. His eyes clouded over and his face went blank, giving way to no emotion.

“Those people _deserved_ it. For all we know, he just killed people like they were rag dolls, not caring who they are or what they’ve done.” Your jaw almost dropped from shock.

“What the _hell_? Do you really think Bruce would’ve let him in if that were the case? Do you really think _I_ would’ve let him in?” You glared at him, hands balled into fists at your sides. He sighed, shifting his stance, once again running a nervous hand through his hair.

“Y/n, you’re only fourteen, you don’t completely understa-“

“Stop! Stop telling me I don’t understand, stop telling me how much you know that I don’t. You won’t even give him a chance,” You seethed, jabbing a finger into his chest. Your breath came in heavy bursts, the only sound that could be heard in the small room.

A claustrophobic feeling was coming over you, and you swayed on your feet, the air in the room too hot and the nonexistent ringing in your ears too much. You couldn’t be in the same room as him anymore. “I have to go,” you murmured, grabbing hold of a chair for support and pushing away from him. A worried look flashed over his face, and he reached out to stop you.

“Y/n, wait-“

“No! Leave me alone, Jason!” You screamed, shoving him away and running out into the cold air of the night.

You ran until you could feel the burn on your cheeks from the wind, until your thighs felt like they were being strung apart from the inside out, until you couldn’t hear anything but your own pounding footsteps. You jumped from rooftop to rooftop until you were sure there was no way your brother had followed you, and finally collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Your breathing came in short bursts, tears beginning to form in your eyes. The things he said.. it made you sick to your stomach. You loved your brother, and you didn’t think he could be so _disgusting_.

You took a deep breath, wiping away the tears that were trailing down your face. Wrapping your arms around your legs and resting your chin on top of your knees, you listened to the sounds of the city and the countless lives of all the people around you.

_Clunk._

You jerked your head around, looking for the cause of the sudden noise. A manic cackle came from behind the roof access, and your heart sunk. You couldn’t breathe. You were paralyzed in fear as a tall and lanky shadow rounded the corner, lips blood red and hair bright green as always, his signature laugh still ringing in your ears.

“Well, looky what we have here.. a little birdy, all by herself on a cold winter’s night,” he taunted. There was a devilish smirk on his lips that made your stomach twist in fear. “Did Hoodie leave you all alone? Hm, I should get you back to him, shouldn’t I? But.. I don’t think he’d mind if we had a little play date first…” He walked closer to you with a small swing in his step, giggling like a psychopath the whole way. But then again, he was.

You had to find a way out of this. Jason had taught you how to defend yourself, but he was a freaking ninja and still hadn’t managed to get away from the Joker, so how were you supposed to? Granted, that was years ago, but you didn’t even have half the training he had then.

All the while, the pale-faced man sauntered closer and closer to you.

Crap.

Swiftly, you swung out your leg and kicked him in the shin, scurrying to get away before he could reach you. You ran to the edge of the rooftop but let out a yelp as he yanked you back by your ponytail and threw you to the floor.

“Ah, ah, ah, little birdy, don’t run off now. Let’s see…” he trailed off, eyeing you over. It left a queasy feeling in your stomach, wondering what exactly he planned on doing to you.

A scream ripped through your ears as an excruciating pain blossomed in your leg. You came to realize that the scream was your own, as the Joker had stomped on your shin, snapping your lower leg in half.

“That should take care of it,” he cackled, beginning to pace the roof. You stared on in horror, unable to do anything about your current situation. You could feel yourself going into shock. “Now, what to do, what to do.. we could have so much fun!”

You paled as he pulled out a dull, rusty knife, dropping to one knee and leaning in close. You could smell his musty breath, bringing a wave of nausea over you. You tried to scramble back from the putrid scent, but a sharp pain in your leg stopped you. Your eyes darted back and forth, trying to find a possible exit, but giving up when you realized there was no way out of this.

He hovered the knife over the bleeding mass that was your leg, and smiled at you eerily. Your chest felt tight, and your head was spinning, your vision going in and out of focus.

_Crash._

You flinched at the noise but nothing happened, and you realized that it was further away then you thought. The Joker was looking away at something off to the sidelines. You didn’t have the energy to look.

“Aw, pity,” he spoke up, making you focus again. “Seems like we may have to cut this meeting short, little birdy. Maybe next time!” You furrowed your brows. He wouldn’t just leave you like this, would he? You thought he’d be much worse.

Slowly, he stood, but just before he ran off the rusted knife slipped from his fingers. You yelled out in pain, staring in horror at the knife embedded in your wound. There was already so much blood. You didn’t think you could bleed much more.

Suddenly, someone was shaking you and shouting your name.

“Y/n! Answer me, y/n!” You heard them say. Damian. It was Damian. You opened your eyes, trying to zone in on him, but reality faded in and out of focus.

“Dami..” You mumbled, lids becoming too heavy and finally falling closed. You could still hear him, but it was as if he was ten thousand miles away. Soon, you heard nothing at all.

——

He got the call just after he finished zip tying some thugs to a fence. Apparently, his older brothers wouldn’t stop bothering him, even when it was their night off.

“What do you want, Todd?”

“I need you to find y/n. She ran off a few minutes ago and isn’t listening to me,” Jason said, a slight edge to his voice that did not go unnoticed.

“What did you do?” Damian asked, already getting out his grapple so he could get to the nearest rooftop. Jason grunted, and Damian rolled his eyes.

“None of your business.”

“And how exactly do you expect me to get her to come willingly if I don’t know why she left in the first place?” Jason huffed and Damian smirked, knowing that he’d won.

“You know I don’t think it’s a good idea for.. you two to be together. You’re both too young.” His nostrils flared.

“So you decided to call the exact person you want her to stay away from. How intelligent of you,” he snapped.

“Just find her,” Jason sighed. “She’ll listen to you.”

“I wonder why,” he hissed, sarcasm dripping from his tone. Hanging up the phone, he jumped across the rooftops until he was in the area. Movement in the distance caught his attention.

_That damned clown._

He was terrorizing some poor citizen, someone who probably just decided to go out on the roof to stargaze and was met with a pale-faced lunatic.

Damian leapt across the rooftops until he was close enough to see in detail, and took a closer look at his surroundings while he silently kept moving.

He could go in from behind and risk being seen by the civilian, who may give up his position. Or he could hit the clown straight on and risk being seen before he could stop him from hurting the civilian. He could see in detail now and the gir-

_Crash._

He tripped as he landed on the next building, knocking over some boxes. _What the hell is she doing here?_ He thought. He didn’t have much time to think, though, because his position had been given away when he’d stumbled.

_Stupid._

He bounded across the rooftops, watching in horror as the Joker let a blade fall through his fingers, embedding into her already bloody leg.

_No._

He ran faster, pushing himself to the limit, but not before the clown escaped. Finally, he reached her, lying in a bloody mess on the roof.

“Y/n, y/n! Answer me!” He pleaded, voice cracking as her breathing slowed. He pressed a button on his belt that would let the others know something was wrong, but he knew it wasn’t going to change anything. He knew how much blood was too much blood.

“Dami…” she murmured, eyelids fluttering open for a moment. His breath caught, and he reached for her arm.

“Y/n,” he whispered, but it was useless, for she could no longer hear him.

  
——  
**_*2 years later*_**

  
You scanned the streets, looking for any sign of Gotham’s resident vigilantes.

Talia told you how Damian had just left you there, how your own brother didn’t even know you were dead until morning because he hadn’t bothered to go looking for you.

They didn’t care about you.

Jason knew how it felt. To be abandoned, to be forgotten. And yet, he still let himself forget about you.

The Joker was still alive after all this damn time; they had stuck to Bruce’s stupid morals again. Even after he’d killed countless lives, they let him live because it was too much on Batman’s conscience. Too easy for him to succumb to “the darkness”.

You would show them darkness.

A noise below broke your train of thought.

Two men were coming out of a jewelry store with bulging bags of what you guessed were riches. You ignored them and stood from your crouch, leaping from one building to the next.

The night was dark, the air cool on your skin. If you remembered correctly, this was indeed your brother’s assigned part of town. Shadows flickered in the alleyways, helpless people or animals that lingered in the depths of the city, staying unseen and stories untold.

You jerked your head as the sound of gunshots rang in the distance, not too far off. Jumping into the alleyway below, you began sneaking towards the scuffle. You made sure to stay in the shadows, but even if you were seen, your cloak hid your face.

A dozen men were attempting to package a bunch of stolen goods into their getaway van, but were failing because of the heavy fire coming their way. Courtesy of your brother.

You leapt from the shadows and incapacitated two of them with your throwing knives, another with a hard kick to the gut. Red Hood had finished off the rest of them and now aimed his guns at you.

“Who are you?” He questioned, a familiar edge to his voice that you’d heard so many times before, every time he lectured you. Instead of answering, you studied him. He hadn’t changed much in the last two years; maybe a bit broader in the shoulders, but the whole Red Hood getup was the same. His fingers tightened on the trigger in response to your quietness, a silent but ominous warning. “Answer me.”

You raised your hands to your face and lowered your hood, wiping strands of hair from your field of vision before looking him in the eyes. Or, at least the helmet. He faltered in shock, taking a step backwards and lowering his weapons slightly.

Before he had the chance to regain his bearings, you turned and sprinted off into the shadows.

———

Damian stared at the skyline as his older brother arrived. He’d gotten a text ten minutes earlier saying it was urgent, and he needed to find out if it actually was or if Jason was just screwing with him again.

“I assume you’re going to tell me why I’m here?” He asked, finally turning around and raising a brow. Jason was standing there with his arms crossed and shoulders set, which was not unusual, but his stance oddly stoic. As if he was uneasy, which was hardly the case.

“She’s back.” His voice was low and raw. Damian furrowed his brows.

“Who?”

Jason sighed and removed his helmet, running a hand through his mop of curls and looked him in the eyes from behind the mask. His jaw was clenched and his features were tense.

“Y/n.” Damian’s nostrils flared, and he tried to leave his face emotionless, but it was hard as he felt his heart drop and his gut tighten.

“I’m not here to play your games, Todd,” he hissed, turning on his heel.

“Do you really think I would joke about this? About her?” His voice was angry, but beneath that was a layer of hurt, of pain and suffering and tears shed in the darkest of nights.

Damian stopped and turned, breathing heavy.

“No,” he muttered, crossing his arms. No, he would not joke about this. None of them would. “How?” The word came out cracked, broken. Jason closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair, letting out a sigh.

“I don’t know, kid. She was over on the streets by the docks. I was taking care of a couple of goons and next thing I know a hooded figure comes in and takes out the rest. Takes off the hood and there she was. Turned and left while I was still processing.” He grinded his teeth together, still pissed that he’d let her get away. She shouldn’t be on the streets of Gotham- they were too dangerous, as last time had proved. But he didn’t know what she could do anymore, or even who’d trained her. Or how she was even _alive_. Hell, he didn’t even know how _he_ was alive. Maybe it just ran in the family.

“We must find her,” Damian piped up, determination set in the lines of his face. Jason crossed his arms, weary of the teenager’s impulsiveness. He knew Damian would do anything for y/n, just like he would. But that kind of readiness tended to mess with your thinking.

“I know. But, we don’t know what she can do anymore, or how she’ll react when she sees us. We don’t even know if she’ll recognize us. You need to be careful,” he warned. The kid scoffed and raised his brows.

“That’s rich, coming from you.” Jason just shook his head and flipped his helmet on, turning back to the night.

———

You walked slowly through the cemetery, searching through the rows and columns of cracked marble and limestone. You came to a stop in front of two dirty headstones, one etched with the name _Jason Todd_ , and the other your own. Each slab of rock was a reminder of the lies that lay beneath, of the emptiness in the coffins and in your heart. You grimaced, turning from the sight.

It was foolish of you to come here. It was just a reminder of all you’d had, and all that you’d lost. You took in a shaky breath, trying to fight the tears threatening to flow from your eyes.

The sound of light footsteps broke you from your thoughts, and you gripped your knife, cautiously turning towards the noise.

A boy not much older than you stood a few feet away, in a familiar red, green, and yellow getup that made him look like a traffic light. You took a step backward in surprise, inhaling sharply. The sight of him made your heart feel like it was being shredded to pieces.

“...y/n,” Damian whispered, almost a question but not, because he already knew whose face hid behind that cloak. You swallowed, breathing heavy. You couldn’t do this. You couldn’t see him, not when you still loved him so much and he didn’t give a _damn_ about you. The tears finally spilled over and streamed down your face as you turned and ran, ran as fast as you could from all of the hurt and the pain.

You jerked as someone yanked you back around and there he was, face merely two inches from yours. “Y/n, _listen to me-_ “ You cut him off with a swift kick to the groin and attempted to run, but he caught your ankle and yanked so that you fell face forward. You quickly turned over and he straddled you before you could get up. That’s when your hood fell back and he could finally see your tear stained face, red and puffy around the eyes.

“Y/n…” he whispered, bringing his hand up to cup your face, his thumb sweeping away the tears on your cheek. “It’s ok… you’re ok..” The tears just kept falling and you turned away from him.

“It’s not, it’s not ok,” you murmured, trying, and failing, to calm your breathing. His worried gaze searched your features, his thumb stroking your cheek and his free hand smoothing up and down your arm, trying to calm you.

“You’re safe now, I promise,” he crooned. You stared at him in disbelief, shaking your head hysterically. “Your brother will be here soon, we’re going to keep you safe. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again, I swear on my life.” An ugly sob racked through your chest.

“You don’t care about me. You don’t… none of you do. Talia told me everything…” Damian’s hold on your arm tightened and he clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth together.

“Whatever she told you is a lie. She is manipulative and uses people to get what she wants. She doesn’t care about anyone.” You shook your head.

“She cared about me more than you ever did,” you whispered, voice raw from all your crying. Now you just felt empty and numb, no more tears left in you. “ _She_ brought me back, _she_ saved me. You left me, let the Joker live after everything he’s done, _you just don’t care!_ ” You shouted at the top of your lungs, anger coursing through your veins. You raised your hands to push him off of you, but he caught your wrists and pushed them down at your sides.

“No, y/n, that’s not how it happened. _She lied._ She is a liar. Don’t you think I would know?” He was pleading with you now. Taking one hand away from your arms, he reached up and peeled the mask away from his face. A display of trust. Of assurance. You looked into those emerald green eyes and you saw hurt, you saw the pain of being lied to and manipulated.

“..yes,” you whispered, going limp against the ground. It made sense. It made sense how she took you in, trained you and sent you to Gotham to do her bidding. It would catch them off their guard, seeing you when they thought you were dead.

His features softened, face going slack in relief. He helped you sit up and held you close, nose buried in your hair.

“We looked for a way to bring you back for months, until Father finally made us stop. He told us we were crazy. We probably were,” he muttered. He rocked you back and forth, stroking your hair. “We all missed you. I missed you.” His voice cracked on the last note, making you look up at him, only to see tears running down his cheeks.

“Dami,” you murmured, wrapping your arms around his neck and kissing each of his cheeks affectionately. “I missed you, too. I thought…” You inhaled sharply, looking down at your feet. He gripped your chin and tilted it so that you were looking straight into those bright green eyes.

“I would never forget you.” His stare was so intense and his expression so determined that you actually believed him. You let yourself relax and finally smiled for the first time in two years.

“I love you, Dami,” you whispered, running your fingers through his hair so that you could bring his face down to yours for a brief kiss. He smiled against your lips, cupping your cheek.

“I love you, too.”


End file.
